...a tribute.

Photo credit: Laura Nelson

Enjoy

It's not an easy task to look at all the bits and pieces that I want to include in this site and divide them up into some logical order. 

There are so many cross-overs and so many things to discover.

So this, this is the fun page. Here is Mr. B. the recording artist, the singer, the stage performer, the actor. There is much in all of that to discover about the man.

World Music

Harry Belafonte's impact on world music extended beyond introducing Calypso to the American ear. He surrounded himself with band members and introduced performers (including Nana Mouskouri, Miriam Makeba, Letta Mbulu, Sivuka, Richard Bona) and instruments (African percussion instruments and talking drums, carnival whistles) from across the globe, generously sharing his stage with a rich tapestry of world voices and sounds.

Gina Belafonte stated in a CBC segment - " I will walk through the world unabashedly and unapologetically saying my father created the genre of world music." When you consider that the term became popular in the 1980s - seems a fair statement.

While touring, he often incorporated a song in the local language into his repertoire. Many were caught in TV appearances and recordings through the years.

Here are a few that came to mind - in no particular order:

Spanish (Mexican folk song)

Cu Cu Ru Cu Cu Paloma

"Tells the story of a man whose lover died and is devastated by her absence. He’s so hopeless that he only cries and drinks and the only thing that calms him down is when this little dove (la paloma) comes to his windowsill and cooes, leading him to believe that its the spirit of his long lost love." - 

Haitian

Merci Bon Dieu

Thank you Lord for a plentiful harvest. We shall sing and we shall dance.

x

Swahili

Malaika

Harry Belafonte & Miriam Makeba - A love song from Kenya describing the plight of a young man too poor to marry his sweethart.

From "An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba"

Hebrew

Hine Ma Tov (Live)

How good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity. Amen. England, 1959

Watch it here

Japanese

Sakura (Live)

Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
In fields, mountains and villages
As far as the eye can see.
Is it mist, or clouds?
Fragrant in the rising sun.
Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
Flowers in full bloom.

La Bamba and this song are from the same live concert, Harry in Japan in 1960 on the Television and Video Archive channel. The whole show is there, but I have bookmarked this one to start at Sakrua - the last song.

Watch it here

Spanish

La Bamba (Live)

This song was first featured on the live album Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall (1960).

Another example of wish-I-had-seen-it-live, and well, here it is!

Watch it here

Hebrew

Hava Nageela (Live)

from Belafonte: New York 19 (1960) 

Watch it here

Indonesian

Suliram (Live)

The song, thought to be a lullaby of the Riau people, may contain messages that parents want to convey to their children at bedtime, such as words of endearment, being modest and holding on to old friends.

Live at the BBC - Songs of Many Lands (1959)

Watch it here

Greek

Opa Ni Na Naï (Live)

The Danny Kaye Show 3rd Season Premiere 15th September 1965 guest starring Harry Belafonte and Nana Mouskouri.

This video contains Nana's first American appearance, singing Telalima alone, followed by Opa Ni Na with Harry Belafonte and Danny Kaye. 

Watch it here

World Records

Songs from Africa

An Evening With Belafonte / Makeba

This album won a Grammy Award in 1965.

It features 5 studio songs by Belafonte, 5 by Makeba, and 2 duets.

It's one of those albums that is still as fresh and a beautiful as when it was first released.

From the back cover: "This album is not only a collection of African songs sung in the tongues of various tribes; it is a reflection of all the things I have spoken of. It is a reflection of the political; it is a reflection of the human interchange."

Songs from Greece

An Evening With Belafonte/Mouskouri

A year later, 1966 ~ 

It features 4 studio songs by Belafonte, 4 by Mouskouri, and 2 duets.

Harry Belafonte introduced Nana Mouskouri to North American audiences, including her in his concert tour in 1965, and on TV on The Danny Kaye Show. 

Records

So how far back do you want to go?

Did you know that Harry Belafonte's first recordings were as a jazz singer?

Monte Kay was the Royal Roost's (NY) new young manager, and Belafonte a struggling actor trying to make ends meet. Kay had seen Belafonte in a play where he had sung, and was impressed enough to agree to let him sing during intermission for a few bucks.

There's a lovely side note history here - Belafonte took a few weeks to work up a repertoire with help of Al Haig- and on the day of his first performance, not only Haig, but Tommy Potter, Max Roach, and Charlie Parker took to the stage to back him up. 

Success came quickly, and Monte formed Roost Records - which led to Belafonte's first recording in 1949.

It took years before we were able to get these into our collection (thanks ebay) - but there they all are, fresh for your listening thanks to some very talented audio-buffs:

"Digitized from a shellac record, at 78 revolutions per minute. Four stylii were used to transfer this record. They are 3.8 mil truncated conical, 2.3 mil truncated conical, 2.8 mil truncated conical, 3.3 mil truncated conical. These were recorded flat and then also equalized with Turnover: 400.0, Rolloff: -12.0.The preferred version suggested by an audio engineer at George Blood, L.P. is the equalized version recorded with the 3.8 mil truncated conical stylus, and has been copied to have the more friendly filename."

Blow my mind!  There's plenty more to explore on this site, but here is a taste of some of those early recordings:

1949 - Royal Roost - First recording: Lean On Me

1949 - Royal Roost Flip- Recognition (written by Mr. B.)

Overview of old '78s

Harry Belafonte is Essential

What some of us have always known! 

There I was, thinking I'd already heard the greatest music ever made. Then, one gray and inclement day, I played the two-CD set The Essential Harry Belafonte (2005) and became enlightened.....

This is a review on The Essential Harry Belafonte CD compilation (2005). 

December 2022, Kurt Wildermuth: Harry Belafonte is Essential

Midnight Special (Rehearsal Take)

Fun fact: Bob Dylan's first recording gig was with Mr. B

A number of years ago, during the production phase of a Dylan film, some of the series of rehearsal takes surfaced. 

There's a very nice synopsis of the recording, and perceptions of both Mr. B. & Bob Dylan (as detailed in My Song) here.

Listen to some of the takes Here

Fun Video Finds

1964

In My Father's House

When my kids were young - we're talking ~ 4, 4 & a bit under 3 - there was this one LP that got a lot of play in our house - Belafonte at the Greek Theatre - In particular, this song.

The kids would run around the living room in circles, and when it was done, shout "Again, again..." and I would pick the stylus up, and, again.

It was something to listen to that album, cover to cover, and imagine what it was like to be in the audience. So what a treat that in 2021, The Ed Sullivan YouTube channel released this version of it, filmed seven months after the Greek Theatre album was recorded. 

I sent it on to the kids; my eldest wrote back that it was "a real banger." 

Watch it here

1982-1983

Sesame Street 

Harry appeared on three episodes of Sesame Street according to muppet.fandom.com

Anyone has better quality, please let us know!

Coconut Counting Man
Mo Yet
a Zulu tale

Broken Links? It's bound to happen... Please let me know and I will remove or resolve.